26 October 2011

Quimera's ten most important Spanish novels of the decade

In December 2009, the Quimera magazine published a list of the 10 most important Spanish novels of the decade (2000-2009) as voted by 25 writers and critics. It included novels by writers who were born or who permanently lived in Spain. I reproduce the list below. Translations, if available, are indicated.


1. 2666, Roberto Bolaño (2666, trans. Natasha Wimmer)
2. Bartleby y compañía, Enrique Vila-Matas (Bartleby & Co., trans. Jonathan Dunne)
3. El vano ayer, Isaac Rosa
4. Nocilla Dream, Agustín Fernández-Mallo
5. Soldados de Salamina, Javier Cercas (Soldiers of Salamis, trans. Anne McLean)
6. Tu rostro mañana, Javier Marías (Your Face Tomorrow, trans. Margaret Jull Costa)
7. Rabos de lagartija, Juan Marsé (Lizard Tails, trans. Nick Caistor)
8. España, Manuel Vilas
9. Lo real, Belén Gopegui
10. Concierto del No Mundo, A. G. Porta (The No World Concerto, trans. Rhett McNeil)


A. G. Porta, the last writer on the list, was Bolaño's co-author of the novel Consejos de un discípulo de Morrison a un fanático de Joyce (1984, "Advice from a Morrison Follower to a Joyce Fanatic").















(via Jorge Carrión)

2 comments:

  1. The four I've read from the list are all excellent--guess I need to check out the other six now. "Thanks" in advance for busting my book-buying budget!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're welcome, Richard. Treat yourself to an early Christmas spree. :p

    ReplyDelete